A/N Hello, my darlings, I apologize for the intermediate length wait, but I have had literally zero, count them zero hours of free-time until now. Thus, updates shall soon increase vastly in speed.
Thanks to all Reviewers!
Dedication: alybro0512, my 200th reviewer! :D :D :D
Disclaimer: I own nada. Well, except the crazy, evil dudes, and who really wants them anyway?
Warning: This chapter is rated for violence, and cursing.
"My capacity to be amused by your behavior is rapidly fading, Mr. Hardy." Marion commented in a hard tone, which if not for the dangerous glint in his eyes seemed almost to resemble a parent scolding a child for forgetting to take out the trash.
"Darn." Frank responded caustically. "And, here I thought I was being a regular laugh riot." He knew that baiting the other man was probably not the best of ideas, but he did need to make sure that Callie and the others were far from the premises before anyone noticed their disappearance which meant stalling for time.
Marion would had been idly flicking open a pocket knife as he awaited Frank's response turned to look at the brunet sharply, his hand almost lovingly caressing the edge of the blade.
"Tut, tut, Frank, and I thought you were supposed to be the smart one." Marion murmured thoughtfully. "I suppose I had heard wrong..." He continued. "Of course it is of little consequence to me, as long as I get what I want. And trust me when I say, Mr. Hardy, I always get what I want. Always." He breathed.
Frank involuntarily felt a shiver trail down his spine as a slightly crazed expression flashed through Marion's eyes before it was carefully tucked away again.
"Do you know what I find interesting...?" Marion questioned his voice deceptively mild.
"Um. No?" Frank responded after a pause in which he decided that the other man actually expected him to answer.
"That for someone so smart, you could try such a stupid escape plan. Which leads me to wonder, did you actually believe you could succeed or is this a cover-up for something else." Marion mused aloud, lightly running the blade of the knife up Frank's arm just hard enough to open a thin cut on his arm and incite an involuntary wince. "I really dislike being played for a fool, Mr. Hardy. Although, I'm sure you were already aware of that."
Frank's eyes flicked toward the guards stationed on either side of the door and then back to Marion in rapid succession.
Meanwhile, Marion deposited the knife on the edge of the desk and walked around to the back of the piece of furniture, procuring a handgun from the depths of the top right-hand desk drawer. "I could just shoot you, you know." He murmured thoughtfully, weighing the gun in his hands and looking down at it as though seriously considering the option, which he probably was.
"But you won't." Frank pointed out.
"I won't?" Marion asked sounding amused. "Please, enlighten me, Mr. Hardy."
"We both know that I'm still useful to you, and as long as I remain useful you're going to keep me alive." Frank said boldly, in a tone that implied he was much more confident than he actually was.
"Ah, well, perhaps not, perhaps not, I'll give you that." Marion agreed. "Although, perhaps your pretty blonde friend could be substituted in your place? Maybe that would teach you the futility of disobedience?" He wondered.
Frank swallowed with difficulty and prayed that Callie was far, far away by now.
"Although, such beauty would be a shame to waste. Such a shame. Perhaps, Miss Shaw would not be averse to growing closer to me if you know what I mean?" Marion taunted.
"Like hell she would." Frank spat back.
It happened so fast, Frank barely had time to steel himself for the blow, as the revolver held in Marion's hand collided painfully with his cheek, he could feel his face burning in that peculiar way that bruises or soon-to-be bruises do, and he felt a slow, yet steady trail of blood slide down his face.
"The more I know of you, Frank Hardy, the more I am convinced that the reports of your supposedly cautious nature were heavily exaggerated at best, but then perhaps it was a relative measure, your brother does strike me as even more likely to fly off the handle than your self."
Despite the throbbing in his face, and the fact that his right eye was swelling to the point that he could barely see out of it, Frank managed to muster up a weak glare in response.
"I just don't understand where I went wrong, I isolated you from your family and friends, I've kept you in total lock down, and yet here you are stubbornly clinging to your notions of morality, and your sense of free will as if somehow you are going to win out in the end." The terrorist let out a peal of cold laughter that chilled Frank to the bone. "It would almost be funny if it weren't so pathetic."
Frank refused to dignify the monologue with a response, which seemed to infuriate Marion more than anything. The terrorist stalked over to the hard-backed wooden chair where Frank currently sat and seized the former detective under the chin and forced his face upward so that their eyes met.
"I will break you, Frank Hardy."
With these words, Marion stalked out of the room gesturing for the two remaining guards to finish teaching Frank the folly of his escape attempts.
-Story Break-
It was a relatively silent group that trooped back into Joe's apartment, they had managed to get Callie, Vanessa, and Phil safely back but they were still short one key member of their group.
Joe led the way down the hall, inserting his key into the lock and opening the door. Imagine, Joe's surprise, expecting to return to an empty apartment to find himself immediately seized on both sides and pulled quickly and forcefully inside the dwelling.
-Story Break-
"Get him up." Marion commanded, his teeth clenched angrily as he glared down at the battered and bloodied form of one Franklin Matthew Hardy. "Get. Him. Up." He repeated when his guards didn't react fast enough. "I tried to be nice, really, truly I did. I could have killed your girlfriend, or your brother, or actually your entire family if I had wanted to, but out of generosity and benevolence I spared them. And, how do you repay me?" Marion questioned.
Frank forced himself to meet Marion's eyes, despite the fact that he wouldn't have been able to stand if not for Marion's employees holding him up.
"Whatever happened to gratitude? I suppose your daddy never taught you that, did he? I've tried to be a good host, Mr. Hardy, I've tried, but I'm done playing Mr. Nice Guy."
Frank wanted to point out that they had to very different conceptions of what constituted nice, but he didn't think that would improve his situation.
"Rest assured, Mr. Hardy, I will find Miss Shaw, and once I do I will slowly and painfully end her miserable existence, and when she is dead I will mail her back to her parents one piece at a time."
"You miserable son of a bitch, you leave Callie out of this." Frank spat.
"You're in no position to be making demands." Marion noted coolly. "It's about time you were taught your place, there's to be no more spacial treatment for you, I will treat you the same way I do every disobedient employee, and believe me when I say you won't like the change. Normally, I would just kill you at this point, luckily for you, I have use for you yet, however, I will make sure you spend the remainder of your existence wishing for the sweet embrace of death, you can rest assured of that." He retrieved the knife from the place it had rested on the desk and gestured for his guards to force Frank back into the chair again. They gripped his arms painfully while Marion watched apathetically.
He ran the knife down Frank's leg idly, almost lazily, as though this were all just a game for him. He paused and leaned forward, so that his face was inches away from Frank's his left hand gripping Frank's shoulder. Frank found that he could not look away from Marion's rabidly angry face, and so it was that he lost track of the knife, and was only reawakened to its presence when Marion stabbed it in the joint where knee met thigh, and Frank was unable to suppress a shout of sheer agony. Marion seemed to find this extremely funny for some reason that was lost on Frank, amidst his pain induce haze. The terrorist twisted the knife counter-clockwise eliciting an involuntary gasp of pain from the detective.
"Don't try fucking with me again, Mr. Hardy. Next time you won't live to regret it. Useful or not." Marion warned in a hard tone before turning on his heel and exiting the room, closing the door with a firm click behind him.
A/N Review, please. Next update shall be soon, as I am officially done with all schoolwork, and graduation is next Sunday. :D